Dana Carvey

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One of the most popular performers on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975- ) during its revival in the late 1980s, Emmy winner Dana Carvey was responsible for such note-perfect impressions of figures like George H.W. Bush, Ross Perot, Johnny Carson and Jimmy Stewart, as well as his own creations, the zealous Church Lady and Wayne's sidekick, Garth. Where most impressionists stuck to rote imitations of their subjects, Carvey took his subjects to surreal extremes, with Stewart becoming a vigilante in an alternate-world "It's a Wonderful Life" (1941) and Bush transforming from stiff martinet to self-amused, quote-spouting buffoon. After a debilitating series of heart surgeries, he retreated from the spotlight in the late 1990s to focus on his family and work in stand-up, but his status as one of the brightest talents "SNL" ever fostered was never lost on his dedicated fans.Born Dana Thomas Carvey in Missoula, MO on June 2, 1955, he was the youngest son of educators William and Billie Carvey. When Carvey was three, he moved with his family to the Bay Area town of San Carlos, CA; there, with his parents' encouragement, he began to develop his artistic skills at a very early age. He displayed an uncanny gift for mimicking actors he saw on television, and he showed promise as a musician on drums and guitar. While studying communication arts at San Francisco State University, he put his impressions to the test before live audiences at area comedy clubs. After gaining a reputation for his near perfect takes on James Stewart and John Wayne, he began to incorporate his own creations into the act. One of these characters was The Church Lady, a vinegary, sanctimonious woman who flaunted her moral superiority over anyone who crossed her path. Based on real women from Carvey's hometown church, she later became one of his most popular roles on "Saturday Night Live."In 1981, Carvey moved to Los Angeles to try his hand in Hollywood. After making his feature debut as an ill-fated EMT in "Halloween II" (1981), he landed a development deal with NBC, which resulted in "One of the Boys" (NBC, 1982), a dreary sitcom with Mickey Rooney as a senior citizen who moves in with his college-age grandson (Carvey). Though a dismal flop, the show provided early exposure for the comic, as well as his co-stars, Meg Ryan and Nathan Lane. After minor roles in "This is Spinal Tap" (1984) as a mime who is dressed down by his boss (Billy Crystal) and "Racing with the Moon" (1984), Carvey returned to TV that year as the computer-whiz sidekick to cop James Farentino, who piloted the super helicopter "Blue Thunder" (ABC). Though the program was based on the hit 1983 film, the small screen incarnation failed to repeat its success.In 1986, Carvey joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" as one of its featured players. He was immediately credited as one of the key factors in the show's revived status in the ratings, as characters like the Church Lady, the Schwarzeneggar-esque bodybuilding Hans, and his Grumpy Old Man soon became part of the pop culture lexicon. The ranks of Carvey's imitations soon swelled to include then-President George H.W. Bush - whose laconic drawl and aimless finger-pointing were honed to perfection by the comic - as well as Johnny Carson, Paul McCartney and a dissolute Keith Richards opposite Mike Myers' flamboyant Mick Jagger. For his work on the series, Carvey received an Emmy for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program, and earned an additional four nominations during his tenure on the series. Myers and Carvey's biggest contribution to "SNL" was unquestionably the "Wayne's World" skits, a hilarious spoof of public access programs, with Myers as ebullient Milwaukee teen Wayne and Carvey as his nervous, bespectacled co-host, Garth, whom Carvey based on his own brother, Brad Carvey, creator of the Video Toaster editing software. The recurring characters quickly became some of the most popular on the show, and soon found themselves in exte